Google, PPDC, NERDC to train 100,000 students on online safety

February 10th, 2019

By Felix Khanoba

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), Google and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) have announced plan to educate over 100, 000 secondary school students on how to stay safe when using the internet.

The training, which is part of the two online safety initiatives rolled out by the partners in commemoration of this year’s Safer Internet Day in Abuja recently, is aimed at amplifying the importance of online safety for everyone and particularly for younger Nigerians.

A statement made available to The AUTHORITY in Abuja by PPDC, said the first initiative will see Google, the PPDC and the NERDC partner to hold simultaneous online safety workshops in 32 states.

“The partners aim to educate over 100,000 secondary school students on how to stay safe and protected when using the internet through these workshops, which form part of Google’s Web Rangers programme. This is the first time such an event is being held on such scale in Nigeria,” the statement reads in part.

The partners also announced that a Google-developed online safety curriculum is being integrated into Nigeria’s national curriculum over the course of the year.

“As the internet grows, so does the need for safety, privacy and security online. Google is, and always has been, committed to helping make the internet safer and more useful for everyone,” Google’s Nigeria Policy Manager, Seember Nyager was quoted to have said.

According to Nyager, ““Beyond our own products, we also want to help kids learn how to be safer, more confident explorers of the online world with programs like the one we announced today with the PPDC and the NERDC which will see a Google-designed online safety curriculum integrated into the junior secondary school curriculum across Nigeria.”

Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer of PPDC, Nkemdilim Ilo, said Safer Internet Day afforded the organisation the opportunity to show the role it can play in helping to make the internet a safer and more positive place, adding that for the past four years PPDC has joined Google, government and the rest of the world to mark the Day.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, expressed delight that the agency is collaborating with Google and PPDC to ensure that Nigerian students are safe as they explore the online world and maximise all the benefits the internet offers.